Lace and Silks
by RadicalRae
Summary: Ceil needs a father figure, Claude is lonely and pines for affection, Agni needs a friend...they find this one person in the least likely of places. / Alois and Ciel play dress up with a demon and are highly amused by the outcome.
1. The Beginning

**I appreciate any reviews I get, feedback means less mistakes. ^^**

 **~*~ Line Break ~*~**

Ciel was small.

Now, Sebastian knew this, had known this for a long while. Still, as he held the young earl, he couldn't help but to muse over just _how_ small his young master was. Compared to himself, to anyone really, the boy was _tiny_ , with narrow shoulders, bony limbs...

The demon shifted his grip on the little human boy, who was sound asleep after having hosted a rather late party for the season. He smiled fondly at the memory of his young master dancing across the hall with Lady Elizabeth, remembering when he had to teach the boy to dance.

Ciel stirred and yawned before he snuggled further into his butler's chest, settling back into sleep. Sebastian had to bite his lip to refrain from making a comment about the spectacle. He didn't want to wake his young master, no matter how amusing he felt that this was.

He passed by Claude in the hall, barely acknowledging the other demon - most of his attention was on the frail body in his arms. Somewhere in his whirlwind of a mind, he registered the way the Trancy butler looked at him, looked at Ciel, but at the moment it didn't stay long in his thoughts.

It took a bit of effort to open the door to Ciel's room, but Sebastian managed and quietly entered the room. He gently set the sleeping boy on the bed, removed his shoes, stockings, jacket and eyepatch. He laid each piece of clothing on the nightstand in a neat stack, and set the shoes down where they belonged.

Carefully, so as to not wake the boy, he slid the covers up and over the earl, tucking the warm blankets just underneath his chin. He knew his young master would be upset about waking up in his party clothes, but there would be no helping it tonight.

Sebastian smiled down at the young boy, one hand still resting on his shoulder. Gently, oh so gently, he leaned down and placed a single chaste kiss on Ciel's forehead. He shut the blinds, checked the slumbering human child once more, and left.

He didn't notice the faint smile on the littlest earl's face as he did any of this.

 **~*~ line break ~*~**

The mornings could be worse, Sebastian idly thought as he caught yet another falling dish. At the same time, he caught Mey-Rin around the waist, keeping her from hitting the floor.

She stammered an apology and rushed out of the room; Sebastian wasn't surprised. He only sighed and put the dish back into its place. He turned to snatch up the rest of the clean dishes and put those away as well, only to find that his shoe had snagged in the edge of the carpet...

...and that Claude had caught him and prevented him from falling. The demon butler yanked his arm back, a little faster than he had intended, and glared at the other butler.

"Isn't there something you should be saying right now?" Claude smirked, obviously smug that he'd witnessed the seemingly perfect demon trip up. Sebastian, however, had been playing this game far longer. He simply smiled and turned back to his previous task.

"Mm...playing the silent game, are we?" Claude stepped closer, close enough that Sebastian could catch a whiff of his scent - slightly intoxicating, something minty and strong - and placed his hands on the the demon's shoulders.

"You know it only -"

"Sebastian, Bard's on fire. Again."

Sebastian had to strangle his sigh of relief before it left his throat, though he was quick to move away from Claude and make his way to the kitchen. Where, as Mey-Rin had just said, Bard was on fire.

He made haste in putting the so called chef out, check to make sure the kitchen wasn't damaged, then ordered the mess to be cleaned. As an afterthought, he checked to see if Bard hadn't permanently damaged himself, and only then did he return upstairs, armed with tea and a chocolate cheese cake.

He completely ignored Claude's attempts to speak with him as he cruised past, though he did point in the direction of where he knew Alois was spending his time. _Some_ people should be working, in his opinion.

Ciel hadn't moved from his desk, writing a letter to some English nobleman, probably. Sebastian knocked to gain his young master's attention, waited for the boy to tell him to come in, and poured a cup of Earl Grey for the boy.

He set the cake down, along with the tea, on the desk, within reach of the small earl and far enough away from his work so as to not threaten staining. Ciel reached for the tea first, taking a sip and relaxing almost immediately.

He watched his butler tidy up the room, a welcome distraction from his tedious work. He set his tea to the side, sliding his cake a little closer so he could pick up the fork. He took a bite, chewed and swallowed, still watching Sebastian move about the room.

"Has Alois already left, or is he still here?" Sebastian paused, straightening from where he'd been returning a book to its shelf. He glanced at his master, tilting his head as if to think.

"I believe he is in the library. Would you like me to fetch him for you?"

"No, I'll go down there myself. Have any letters from the queen arrived?"

"Not today, young master." Sebastian walked back over to the desk, waiting for further orders. If there were none, he could get back to work...Ciel waved him off, and he was all too happy to pick up the now empty plate, pour his young master another cup of tea, and leave with the tray.

Now, perhaps he could find that cat he'd seen the other day...

~*~ Line Break ~*~

Alois was ecstatic about spending time with Ciel despite the other boy's constant protests. Even now, he'd managed to drag him all the way up to the earl's room where they sat the table by the window, playing chess and talking.

"Sooo...I'm pretty sure Claude has the hots for your butler..." The topic didn't come as a surprise, as they'd spoken about this before, but still, Ciel gave a long suffering sigh and moved his knight to take out one of Alois's pawns.

"I am aware. He's not subtle about it." Alois studied the chessboard, then turned his attention back to his kind of sort of friend.

"I think we should do something to get them together. At least it would get rid o that awful tension between them." He leaned forward, over the chessboard, the game forgotten.

Ciel, in turn, leaned back, eyeing the blond with a wary gaze.

"And what, exactly, is this idea of yours to get our butlers together. And mind you, Sebastian isn't exactly the type to be easily impressed."

"He doesn't have to be! All we gotta do is make it so Claude makes a move...ever wanted to play dress up with Sebastian? I'm sure he's got _something_ cute in his closet..."

And thus, when Sebastian came in to tell them lunch was ready, he was promptly told that his outfit for tomorrow...would be picked out by his young master and the Trancy brat.

 _Wonderful_.


	2. Of Lace and Heels

**Wow! Two reviews on something I just put up? That's pretty freaking amazing tbh. Anyway...**

 **Arren Akasu: I'm glad to be the cause of laughter for once. Usually it's tears and anger. I hope you stick around for the rest of the laughs** **and eventual sadness.** **Thanks for the review! It's appreciated!**

 **Tarynw: it's gonna get cuter before it gets sad, we're actually starting this chapter with some adorable fluff!** **And ending it with Claude having bad thoughts.** **I hope you stick around to see the outcome, thanks for the review!**

 **I own nothing.**

 **~*~ Line Break ~*~**

In retrospect, they should have seen this coming. Neither he nor Alois were very tall, and Sebastian's closest was arranged to cater to _his_ height. Not that of two very small nobles. Which led to their current _situation_...

"Stop smirking. I can _sense_ you smirking." Ciel snapped at his butler, who's smirk only grew a little bit more. He was currently being held up by the demon, having been too short to grab the dusty box on the top shelf of the closet. Below, Alois was giggling at the entire scene. Ciel glared at the blond as he was set down, box held against his chest.

They'd managed to find a pair of pants (black and Alois claimed they were "form fitting"), a belt to go with the pants, a pair of boots with _slightly_ more heel than should be _appropriate_ , and a pair of black lace gloves. All they had needed was a shirt, and that would hopefully be in the box he'd been too short to get by himself.

Alois shooed Sebastian out of the closet and partially closed the door. Together they opened the box, finding a stack of neatly folded shirts, socks, scarves and sashes. Ciel took out a sash that was a soft lavender, then another that was deep red. Alois went through the shirts, most of which were either plain white or matched the color of one of the sashes.

A sound if approval had Ciel looking up from his examination of the scarves (each one striped or a solid black). Alois triumphantly held up what appeared to be a plain white dress shirt. On second glance, one could tell that it was a long shirt, though not long enough to require it to be tucked in, and it had an...interesting back to it. The sleeves of the shirt were also just barely sheer, which would give off a hint of skin there.

It was perfect.

The little earl shared a wicked grin with his partner in crime, who had the same expression on his face; they'd found exactly what they needed to pull off "Operation; Get the Butlers Together". Said operation needed a better name, but for now it would have to do.

Ciel gathered the needed garments, Alois grabbed the boots and the belt and both of them proudly shoved the clothes at Sebastian before leaving the room. The moment the door closed behind them they ran down the hall, trying and failing to hide their mischief.

Now, where was that camera?

~*~ Line Break ~*~

Claude wasn't sure how to react to a giggly Alois and a smiling Ciel. He still wasn't sure how to react when Agni and Soma arrived. The Prince had immediately been pulled into the two boys plot (he was sure they were plotting something).

He turned to ask Finnian (who'd come up holding a vase of roses) what was going on when he heard Agni gasp. The butler turned - only to stiffen, jaw slack with surprise.

Sebastian stood on at the top of the stairs, head held high and looking as regal as he always did. The difference, however...The boots caught his attention first, knee length, black, with steel toes and a bit more heel than a man should wear, then his gaze traveled up the other butler's legs.

He couldn't help but grin at the sight of the black lacy gloves (just thin enough to see the pale skin underneath, but thick enough to hide black nails and his contract mark). The grin faded back into surprise at the shirt.

It was white (no surprise there), the sleeves were just long enough to warrant them to be slightly rolled at the cuffs, there was a pretty little black lace embroidery on the buttons and bottom hem, and the entire back was black lace. Like the gloves, the lace was thin enough to show pale skin, though much thinner than the gloves.

Claude snapped out of his blatant staring, feeling his face heat up just a tad.

"Sebastian! What has prompted this sudden change in wardrobe?" Agni inquired as the English butler walked down the stairs. The Indian didn't seem at all fazed by the almost inappropriate show of skin, and instead just seemed surprised not to find his friend in his usual clothes.

"The young master and Lord Trancy have become...interested in my day to day clothes. They insisted on picking it out." Alois huffed at having been pointed out, though he still shared a triumphant look with Ciel.

"Well, you look very lovely. Lace suits you." It was odd - the lace _did_ suit Sebastian. It was expensive, refined, and the color was a mystery; who even made black lace, or put it into a man's shirt anyway? It made swirling patterns and let one see to enticing skin usually kept hidden - graceful and sinister all at once.

Unfortunately, while Agni and Soma complimented the new outfit, Claude stuck back, unsure of what to say. On one hand, he could simply insult the other butler, on the other, Sebastian really did look lovely...

"I believe it's nearly time for tea, my lords." He gestured towards the clock, half watching as Sebastian plucked his pocket watch from the pocket of his shirt. Alois turned to check the clock, stiffled a surprised sound, then grabbed Soma and Ciel by the hands.

"You're completely right! We'll take tea in the library today Claude!" When neither of the other boys protested, Alois dragged them off to the library. Sebastian watched them go with suspicion, though his attention was turned elsewhere as Agni asked to see one of the lace gloves.

Claude glanced at the other demon, gaze traveling to the expanse of black lace that made up the back of the shirt. He could see the sharply angled bones of the other man's shoulder blades, could imagine reaching out and touching the ridge of his spine...

He shuddered and retreated into the kitchen to make tea. At this rate he'd make a fool of himself - all because of a little lace.

...had he just heard the shutter of a camera just now?

 **Don't worry, there's more to this story! I plan on getting out two more chapters during this week before I start updating on a more sporadic schedule, so look forward to those!**

 **Also, we'll soon be seeing why Sebastian had such a lacy shirt hidden in a box on a shelf in his closet. Spoiler alert: it's a sad reason get your tissues out.**

 **Until next time lovelies!**


	3. Of Purple and Leather

**Hahaha! It's the third chapter! Woo! The fourth chapter will hopefully be published during the weekend, so you still get to look forward to that. There are some mistakes this chapter, I don't have a lot of time to reread what I wrote so I haven't edited this yet.**

 **Please ignore my mistakes, leave a review, and as always enjoy the story!**

 **Review response:**

 **To Guest: I'm sorry to say there probably won't be any pairings besides Sebastian x Claude, as that is the main focus of LS. However, you can still leave a request for me to write that pairing in my story collection Reclaiming Innocence. Hope you have a good day. ^^**

 **~*~ Line Break ~*~**

It wasn't quite late enough to demand they go to bed, but it was slowly getting there. Alois and Ciel seemed to think picking his clothes for tomorrow after today's disaster was completely necessary, and we're once again picking their way through his closet.

He really should have gone and hidden all his clothes _before_ Alois got to them. He could handle the lacy shirt and the gloves and the heels (he actually loved those boots) but going after his few colored shirts and the sashes and scarves...

Alois had managed to find a black button up shirt that had a dark, rich purple vest to go with it, a dark purple sash that matched the color of the vest, and a pair of shiny black shoes that were similar to his usual ones. Ciel had immediately rejected the pants the blond had offered (for which Sebastian was grateful. He wasn't sure why or how he had pants that had rips along the calves and thighs).

In place of those, the earl had found a pair of black slacks that had purple lace embroidery on the pockets and seams. It would do, though Alois was obviously disappointed in not getting his way.

Sebastian watched this all happen from his seat on the bed, hands neatly folded in his lap and legs crossed at the knees. Occasionally, one of the servants would poke their heads into the room, but other than that, no one had come to disturb them.

"I still think the other ones were better." Alois sniffed in disdain as he and Ciel finally emerged from the closet, the clothes they'd chosen draped across their arms (though, Ciel was carrying the shoes, which didn't drape).

"Maybe for you, but I'd rather my butler _stayed_ a butler and didn't turn into a showy _prostitute._ " Neither boy saw Sebastian flinch or the way he immediately tensed at their not-so-hushed conversation. Oh, how little his young master knew. The boys continued speaking, though the demon had tuned them out. He...He didn't wish to hear whatever they said next.

A knock at the door startled both Alois and Ciel, and caused Sebastian to stand up straight, hands held almost defensively in front of himself. Claude stepped into the room, wary eyes taking in the mostly black and purple decor. For a moment, the spider's gaze paused on the rival butler before he turned to his own master.

"I'm afraid it is time for you to retire. It is late and we'll be going into town rather early..." Alois huffed, about to argue when Ciel nudged him with a bony elbow and gave him what could be a shut-the-hell-up-right-now glare or just a look.

"Fine fine, let's go. I can't wait to see our handiwork tomorrow! Night Ciel~." Alois giggled, dropping his haul on the bed so he could latch onto Claude's arm. The demon said nothing, but he did glance curiously at the pile of clothes. Luckily, he was dragged (more like he let himself be dragged) away by his master before he could ask.

Which Sebastian saw as very good.

After sorting out tomorrow's clothes he escorted Ciel down to his bedroom and prepared him for the long night. As he tucked his young master in, the room only lit by candlelight, he finally asked why he and Alois were insisting on dressing him.

"Mm...can't tell you." Ciel yawned, snuggled underneath the heavy comforter and head resting on the plush white pillow. Despite his obvious fatigue, the little earl still managed a mischievous little smirk. _Brat._

"Oh, a secret then?" The demon teased, closing the curtains with a soft rustle of cloth. Ciel made an affirmative noise, and when the demon turned around he was slipping off into sleep. Sebastian smiled, tucked the blankets more firmly around the earl, blew out the candles, and left as quietly as he could.

"Goodnight, my young master."

~*~ Line Break ~*~

The next day, and Sebastian was loading up the carriage for a ride into town, working alongside Bard and Finnian to get everything in before it was time to leave. As promised, he was wearing what had been picked out for him, though he'd had to roll up the sleeves of the shirt to load the carriage. Occasionally, he'd catch the others glancing at the new wardrobe, especially at the sash tied around his waist.

It was amusing when he could get them to blush and stammer just by tightening it or undoing a single button in his shirt. It was much more amusing when Claude tripped down the stairs upon seeing him. Sebastian actually had to turn away to keep from laughing, and if the stifled giggling from Finnian and Mey-Rin were anything to go by, he wasn't alone.

The butler ignored the angry gaze burning into his back and opened the carriage door for his young master and Alios, smiling pleasantly at them both. The brats had the courage to look smug, more so when Ciel told him to stay up front with Claude.

"What are those two plotting..." He mumbled in thought, closing the door behind the two young lords before making his way to the front. He slid into the seat and picked up the reigns, waiting for Claude to join him before they set off.

The first few minutes were blissfully quiet, almost comfortably so. Sebastian had been about to attempt a conversation when Claude beat him to it, taking the crow by surprise.

"Er, that color suits you." The spider demon refused to look at his rival, mouth pressed into a thin line. He had just the slightest flush to his face, which was a bit hard to not at least chuckle at.

"Thank you. It...was not my first choice." He would've preferred something black or white instead of the dark purple. It clashed with his eyes and he'd always liked the softer shades over the darker ones.

Claude seemed relieved that his compliment was taken well, leaning back against the seat. Sebastian smiled and turned his attention back to the road. First they'd be dropping Claude and the Trancy brat off to some shopping district, then he and his own young master would be investigating a recent string of crimes.

For some odd reason, he found himself _disappointed_ that he wouldn't be spending the day with the other demon. Mm, perhaps he was getting soft in his old age...

~*~ Line Break ~*~

Alois desperately wished that he could listen to the two demons driving the carriage. He kept peeking through the window of the door, though it seemed like it was taking forever to get anywhere _close_ to town.

"Calm down, you'll alert them to-"

"Operation Get the Butlers Together?"

" _Why_ do you insist on that silly name?" Ciel rolled his one visible eye, though he couldn't quite hide his smile. If he hadn't been seeing things earlier, he could've sworn that Claude was looking at Sebastian in a new light.

The lace had probably made more of an impact though, they'd have to find something for that...wait. Alois was going to the shopping district, they already knew what shirt size Sebastian wore (they'd looked), it would be easy to get something new for the demon...

"Alois, I have an idea...and it involves shopping and ditching Claude all at the same time."

"I'm already into this idea. Proceed."


End file.
